Tafseer of Jonas · Yunus · 10:49
Say, "I possess not for myself any harm or benefit except what Allah should will. For every nation is a [specified] term. When their time has come, then they will not remain behind an hour, nor will they precede [it]."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the interpretation of the word of Allah the Exalted: قُلْ لا أَمْلِكُ لِنَفْسِي ضَرًّا وَلا نَفْعًا إِلا مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلٌ إِذَا جَاءَ أَجَلُهُمْ فَلا يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ سَاعَةً وَلا يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ (49)
(Say: I possess for myself neither harm nor benefit, except what Allah wills. For every community there is an appointed term. When their term comes, they will receive no respite for an hour, nor will they bring it forward.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted here says: "Say" — O Muḥammad — to those who hasten the threatened punishment of Allah, and who say to you: "When will the promise you make to us come, if you speak the truth?" — "I possess for myself" — O people — that is: I have no power for it over harm nor benefit, neither in the worldly life nor in religion — "except what Allah wills" that I should possess it, so that I may gather it for it by His leave.
Allah the Exalted says to His Prophet ﷺ: Say to them: And since I am only able to do that by His leave, I am all the more remote from the power to attain knowledge of the unseen (al-ghayb) and to know the coming of the Hour — unless it be His will and His leave permits me that.
"For every community there is an appointed term" — that is: for every people there is an appointed time for the expiry of their duration and their term. When the time for the expiry of their term and the end of their lifespan comes —
"they will not lag behind" — from it — "an hour", so that they might receive respite or delay; "nor will they bring it forward" — before that time — for Allah has decreed that this will not take place before the time which He has appointed and determined.
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Footnotes:
(8) See the explanation of "al-mulk" (possession/power) in what preceded: volume 13, p. 302, note 1, and the sources mentioned there.
(9) See the explanation of "al-umma" (community/people) in the linguistic registers in what preceded (under the root: a-m-m).
And the explanation of "al-ajal" (appointed term) in what preceded, p. 33, note 3, and the sources mentioned there.
(10) See the explanation of "istaʾjara" (to ask for delay) and "istaqdama" (to bring forward) in what preceded: volume 12, pp. 404–405.
